


Check your King

by charons_boat



Category: The Boyz (Korea Band)
Genre: Assassins, Betrayal, Enemies to Lovers, Exile, Forgotten Memories, Gardens, M/M, Minor Character Death, Royalty AU, Vampires, ex-nobility, ex-noble, executions, failure - Freeform, farming, friends to strangers, last job, non-explicit death, suppressed memories
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-07-16
Updated: 2020-07-16
Packaged: 2021-03-05 05:47:50
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,432
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25299370
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/charons_boat/pseuds/charons_boat
Summary: Life moved in the strangest of ways.
Relationships: Ji Changmin | Q/Moon Hyungseo | Kevin
Comments: 3
Kudos: 26





	Check your King

**Author's Note:**

  * For [lemon_jelly](https://archiveofourown.org/users/lemon_jelly/gifts).



> i hope you like this uwu i had fun writing it and used a lot more fancy language than i expected although honestly it is a royalty au so idk what i expected

A boy runs through the garden--a place he and his mother love dearly, for all its vibrant flowers, calm energy, and bubbling streams--as another boy chases him. They play together like this most everyday, and only with each other because there are no other children of similar status and age (and truly, that wouldn't have mattered so much if one boy weren't royalty and the other weren't the child of the highest ranking nobles close to the royal family).

The two are best friends, and they tell each other everything. When Kevin develops a crush on older boys he sees in the court, Changmin admits to liking a few of the noble children he's forced to talk to at the dinners his parents hold. None of them are as much fun as Kevin, though, something he always reminds the older boy of.

The two are even promised to each other, but both boys' parents explain time and time again that it's only to happen if there is no one else for either boy when they come of age. Kevin and Changmin both agree that there will never be anyone else, and that of everyone within a few years of them, they prefer each other's company above all.

And then, tragedy strikes. It doesn't start with a death, but it ends with one. You see, Changmin's father had been plotting against Kevin's for nearly as long as the two boys had been alive, and Changmin's older brother had been involved as well. The rest of Changmin's family--his mother, his younger sister, and himself--were all deemed innocent of treason, but were punished for having lived with traitors. They, along with the young prince, were forced to watch as the Ji men were executed. It had taken a mere two swings to kill Changmin's brother and father.

The two boys had different reactions: surprisingly, Kevin was the one crying as he tried to hide behind his mother's skirts (a fruitless effort as his father grabbed him by the arm and forced him to watch as his best friend's family was killed) while Changmin stayed frozen in place, his expression completely blank aside from his wide, terrified eyes. His eyes were the only way anyone could tell how much the terrible event was affecting him.

Afterwards, Changmin, his mother, and his sister were exiled from the capital. They rode for days, nearly a week, until they reached a small village and stayed. Kevin was told never to think of his friend again, because he would never again see the child of the Ji traitor.

* * *

  
The capital is old, and this is reflected in the different subsections of the city. Every area is different from the next, showcasing the building styles of various eras. From atop the walls, it looks like a patchwork quilt, with the grand castle situated right in the middle atop the hill that existed there long ago, when the stone walls were merely a defensive fort against the enemies of long-dead ancestors. It had been a surprisingly modest construction for the royal family to occupy, but it had quickly been built upon and expanded. It was easily something like a palace now, and the single-most expensive construction in the entire city.

No one spares me a glance as I wander the streets, and truly who'd waste even a single second to look at someone as plain as I. Dark hair and eyes, tanned skin from years on the farm, clothing worn and sun-bleached for the same reason. My sack holds a single change of clothing, things brought from and not worn since a time I cannot remember.

I do not recognize anything in the city, though I know from the way I do not hesitate to turn down streets that I once knew the place like the back of my hand. It is a city I do not remember but have carved into the basis of my mind regardless. It doesn't matter to me how much I may have loved this place before, because now it is nothing but pain for me. I know what terrible things happened fifteen years ago in the courtyard of that wasteful castle. The city has its charms, and it is beautiful in a dissonant sort of way, but I hate it. It is because of the past I have no memory of that I took one last job.

King Hyungseo is cruel in a way his father was not; at least, that's what everyone always says when I ask. He seems closer to a demon than a vampire, though he is truly the latter and not the former. He never seems to get enough of human blood, everyone says, because his eyes are always deep crimson. I think it a shame that he was turned so recently, merely two years, and that he must already die. _There must be no eternity for Moon Hyungseo._ That's what I'd been told, though the sentiment that the King must die had been left unsaid. The last people to plot against the King had lost their heads. (This was known by everyone, and raw fear had prevented anyone from trying to stop Hyungseo in his harsh rule thus far.)

No one quite knew why Hyungseo was the way he was. There was speculation, of course: "It's because being turned corrupted his mind." "No, it must be because of all the bloodshed he had to witness as a child." "For sure, his mind has gone rotten, and there's no hope for saving him now." When I'd been given the simple command and had learned more about this King who was fated for death at my hand, I decided that he must have been born with a rotten soul in the first place.

Night falls over the city like a blanket, and oil lamps are lit throughout the streets. Amber light floods the street, but there are always pockets of darkness to be found amongst the light. It is in one of these that I hide to change out of the clothes I've had since I was sixteen, into the ones my mother has had since I was seven. The other clothes are much finer and far more vibrant, pristine thanks to the years hidden in a trunk. She told me when she packed them up for me that they had been my older brother's; he had been over a decade older than me, and my mother was sure that his old clothes would fit. I didn't tell her at the time why I truly needed them, simply came up with the excuse that the rich man who'd taken a peculiar interest in me had invited me to the King's party. She'd been all too happy to dig the fine clothes out of the trunk.

I leave the bag on the dirty alley and walk along the streets; my feet know where to go even now, and walking towards the castle is even easier than wandering along had been--almost as if I'd gone to the castle more than any other place as a child. Walking through the courtyard is both natural and disturbing, as if it's something I once did often. I know very well why it is disturbing to me: despite remembering nothing of it, I know my family was brought here one last time before I watched them die. My sister and I, along with our mother, were spared for some reason I had never known. I often wish I wouldn't have been, if only so I would never have ended up leading the life I have.

There's an orchestra somewhere, playing soft, soothing music. It sounds beautiful, but nothing can compare to the orchestra I hear during my days and nights at the farm. To my ears, no instrument will ever compare to the babbling of the river and the chirping of the birds and the crickets.

The ballroom is nearly empty when I walk in, and the gilded throne is empty, so I assume I must be early. Again, because I seem to know the castle by heart, I let my feet carry me where they will. Through massive doors and long hallways I walk, thoughtlessly, carefully, until I find myself outside the walls of the impressive home once more. This time, though, the artificial orchestra is replaced by one strangely familiar to me. The feeling of this garden, the bubbling streams, the quiet song of the cicadas are like a melody etched into my heart.

I continue to wander, the harsh topknot in my hair beginning to make my head throb, and I come to a stop among a ring of trees. There's a man sitting on a stump that sits a few yards off the center of the otherwise perfect clearing. He's facing the other way, but I can tell by the way he sits, and by the intricate detailing of his clothing, that he must be the King.

The closer I walk, the more familiar he feels. There is the vaguest memory of chasing another boy around, through a garden that feels much like this one, while both of us laugh joyously. It is when I am a yard away and still have my knife sheathed that I recall his name.

"Kevin?" My voice is filled with a longing I cannot name nor comprehend, and the King slumps his shoulders at the sound of my voice.

"That is a name I have not heard in a long time," he murmurs. His dark hair shines under the light of the moon, pulled in a topknot like my own and topped with an expensive hairpiece that signifies his status. He stands and regards me with softer eyes than I expect to come from the reportedly cruel King. "My father said I would never see you again. 'Forget that boy,' he said, 'because you will never see the son of the Ji traitor from now until the end of your days.'" I cannot see any crimson among his dark brown eyes; instead, there is only a swirl of emotion so thick I cannot pick a single one out of the mix.

"I have not thought of you since I left." Kevin looks hurt by the admission. "I do not enjoy thinking of what I can barely remember." He stays silent, and I pull the knife from its sheath. I hold it so the blade points to the ground and extend my arm. Kevin only watches as I open my hand and let the blade fall from my hand. "I was sent to kill you." Kevin nods in acceptance.

"I did not think I had much longer left. I never expected it would be you," he tells me. I laugh bitterly and shake my friend.

"Neither did I. When I was told to kill the King I asked people what you were like. They all say you're bloodthirsty and cruel, and so I had no qualms about ending your eternity early. And yet--if I had known it would be my childhood friend, the boy who cried when I could not, I would have thrown that knife between the eyes of the man who tasked me with this horrible thing." I sigh and look up from the ruby at the end of the handle and find Kevin teary-eyed as he looks at me.

"I hate playing this role," he whispers, "but I hate this life infinitely more. No one trusts me, or loves me. No one is truthful with me, and there is no one I would call a friend. There was only ever you, and yet--you were the one person I became forbidden from. Life and fate are cruel mistresses to try and serve. This I have come to learn, and for this reason, I no longer wished to live." I sit in the grass and sigh, pulling emerald green strands from the ground in front of me.

"This was supposed to be the last job. They were supposed to let me go after this, though I doubt if the despicable instincts I've developed shall ever leave me now. How silly it is for me to fail this last job of hundreds. I can barely recall a single memory with you, and yet I know that my heart would shatter irreversibly if I were to kill you." Kevin sits down in front of me with a sly smile.

"We were promised to each other, once long ago. My father is long gone, and my mother has not woken since I first felt a vampire's teeth in my neck." Kevin giggles suddenly, the sound quiet but distinct, another missing piece of the symphony I have missed for fifteen years. "How unfortunate it is that I am yet unmarried. Who's to say I shouldn't marry my betrothed now that we've reunited?" To me, the look on his face as he asked was a question in itself. _Is there anyone to stop us? Have you forgotten me so completely that you've married now?_ I shake my head, and he smiles hopefully.

"My sister is already married, and my mother denies her relationship with the man who owns the silk booth though I know she lies. If I were to leave her, she would have no reason to lie and no reason to stay on our farm. She could rest in peace." Kevin pulls me to my feet with a soft smile.

"The people still recall the history of your name, though I think few have seen your face. If you were to claim a different name, no one would recognize you." A last chance to refuse, to back out.

"Yeo Changmin, then, for a friend who helped on our farm when we were struggling to adjust to so different a life. We might have gone hungry if not for his efforts." Kevin nods and walks past me, still holding my hand. The knife stays handle up in the ground, and is gone by morning. It takes a good few hours for me to recall everything I'd been taught as a child, and before the night is over, Kevin announces me as the man he will marry in the next month.

The next morning, I write a letter to my mother, telling her that I've promised to marry the man who invited me to the King's party and that I will not return. I never receive a response to my letter, and instead live the life I'd been thrown from because of the hatred of my father.

**Author's Note:**

> im on twt @sunwooseok_


End file.
